UPDATE - Militant attacks leave six dead in Egypt's Sinai

*UPDATES WITH INTERIOR MINISTRY STATEMENT

By Viola Fahmi

CAIRO (AA) - At least six people were killed on Monday after clashes erupted between Egyptian security forces and unidentified militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula, according to local security sources and Egypt’s Interior Ministry.

A group of gunmen -- driving a car and on motorbikes -- opened fire on security personnel stationed outside a church in the North Sinai city of Al-Arish, a local security source, preferring anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media, said.

At least six people were killed in the ensuing clashes, including three policemen, the same source told Anadolu Agency.

The Interior Ministry confirmed the attack in a subsequent statement, saying that a “group of terrorists” had attacked a number of security checkpoints near Al-Arish.

It did not say how many checkpoints had come under attack.

“As our forces prepared to respond, terrorist elements targeted a nearby bank from which they managed to seize large sums of money,” the ministry added, confirming that three policemen had been killed.

In a separate statement, Egypt's state-run Al-Ahly Bank confirmed that its Al-Arish branch had come under “terrorist attack” during which assailants had managed to seize large sums of money.

The bank did not divulge how much money had been stolen, but said at least one bank guard had been killed in the incident, for which no group has yet claimed responsibility.

On Sunday, the Egyptian army announced that six of its soldiers -- along with dozens of militants -- had been killed in separate attacks and clashes across northern Sinai.

Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has remained the epicenter of a deadly militant insurgency since 2013, when Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first freely-elected president, was ousted in a bloody military coup.

Since then, hundreds of Egyptian security personnel have been killed in attacks across Sinai, especially in the peninsula’s volatile northeastern quadrant, which shares borders with both Israel and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Last week, Egypt extended a countrywide state of emergency for an additional three months, citing continued threats to the country’s national security.